He is vehemently opposed to the carbon market schemes – in which permits to pollute are bought and sold – which are seen by the EU and other governments as the most efficient way to cut emissions and move to a new clean energy economy.

Therefore, Hansen says:

It would be better for the planet and for future generations if next week's Copenhagen climate change summit ended in collapse.

Hansen has previously said that cap and trade "will not work", and he has previously called cap and trade "a Ponzi-like ... scheme".

I have repeatedly pointed out that cap and trade won't work. Indeed:

The economists who invented cap-and-trade say that it won't work for global warming

European criminal investigators have determined that there is a tremendous amount of fraud occurring in the carbon trading market.

Former U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs Robert Shapiro says that the proposed cap and trade law "has no provisions to prevent insider trading by utilities and energy companies or a financial meltdown from speculators trading frantically in the permits and their derivatives."

Our bailout buddies over at Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and the other Wall Street behemoths are buying heavily into carbon trading (see this, this, this, this, this and this). As University of Maryland professor economics professor and former Chief Economist at the U.S. International Trade Commission Peter Morici writes:

Obama must ensure that the banks use the trillions of dollars in federal bailout assistance to renegotiate mortgages and make new loans to worthy homebuyers and businesses. Obama must make certain that banks do not continue to squander federal largess by padding executive bonuses, acquiring other banks and pursuing new high-return, high-risk lines of businesses in merger activity, carbon trading and complex derivatives. Industry leaders like Citigroup have announced plans to move in those directions. Many of these bankers enjoyed influence in and contributed generously to the Obama campaign. Now it remains to be seen if a President Obama can stand up to these same bankers and persuade or compel them to act responsibly.

In other words, the same companies that made billions off of derivatives and other scams and are now getting bailed out on your dime are going to make billions from carbon trading.

And it won't work.

16 comments:

Earth is getting warmer but not because of CO2. Here is a simple proof of it all. It consists of two simple graphs from Mauna Loa containing it's already famous data. Follow the link to judge yourself:

I beat my head against the wall in frustration. The over- complex added the deniers/jackasses equals ... what, exactly.

Start solving the climate problem with a simple gasoline tax. $3 to start with would be fine ... running right up to $10 a gallon. Help cut the deficit, encourage conservation, put real pressure on the Chinese and other developing countries, encourage conservation, put the world on notice the USA isn't run by imbeciles any more, cut congestion, but traffic fatalities, cut smog and carbon emissions. So easy and so painless.

Then .. add more conservation on top of the gas tax, more fuel taxes, odd- even days, 55 mph speed limits, national driving license, mandatory minimums for cellphone/DUI, etc. Cut the auto population to 10 million, mainly emergency and commercial vehicles

"What about the jobs," you ask? Jobs are not a problem if they are not intermediated by autos. A billion things need to be done. Don't believe me, look around1

We need more people in agriculture, agriculture support, building transit, building canals and non- auto infrastructure, demolishing and recycling abandoned buildings, restoring forests, pasture and watersheds, burying dangling wires, rebuilding America's cities and towns into beautiful places that people - rather than cars - would like to inhabit.

End wars overseas and save more money.

So simple: will solve the finance crisis, too. Gas tax and move the country away from cars. I know it won't happen, people are too dumb. This is a country where Beavis and Butthead is a documentary.

I don't care, the world will crash; let boys lament in well- deserved agony and their children and their childrens' children.

Matt Taiibi of Rolling Stones says energy will be the next bubble. Like the dot coms and housing. Only this time there will be no middle man. The money will go straight to Wall Street. The rules and regs are written in such a confusing way...the average person can't understand them . I can't . But here is the way it works.I just don't understand the lingo. Duke power in NC uses a lot of coal in their power plants. High incidence of asthma in children in NC. Bad air days like LA where old people are advised to stay inside. So Duke Power can buy carbon credits from Texas wind farms . And keep on operating. It is a money making scheme that allows bad practices to continue.

Matt Taiibi says that cap and trade is the next bubble. Like the dot coms and housing. Except the money will go straight to Wall Street. The language is purposefully confusing. As an example. Duke Power in NC used coal in their power plants . Children have a high incidence of asthma, old folks have to stay indoors on bad air days. So Duke Power can buy carbon credits from the wind farms in Texas , and keep on using coal . The environment is no better for this stupid law. Fat cats are just richer.

So the carbon market is where you go to buy your indulgences so you can be permitted to pollute. So this seems all "smoke and mirrors". If all the big companies who pollute now just go and buy carbon indulgences, they will pollute just the same today. It seems like this scheme is to transfer money to the elite and not actually reduce pollution at all.

Yeah, and permits for carbon emissions won't be given freely to companies. There's a limited amount, and the number of permits will be reduced over time so companies will have to gradually reduce emissions.

Steve, if you're so apathetic to the world why do you "beat your head against the wall in frustration".. Listening to you would only increase our "well-deserved agony" while proving that the USA IS run by an imbecile.

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